Looking from Inside or Outside?

Do you recognize these two engineers?

Dilbert is the engineer who works at that bewildering place where nothing makes sense. The engineer on the right represents the Norton software products produced by Symantec that are designed to scan for viruses or optimize operating systems. Which engineer is more appealing?

Dilbert is the one with whom many of us identify. But would you trust him to recover your hard drive if your computer just crashed? Wouldn't you rather turn to Norton?

Scott McCloud describes "masking" in Japanese comics, those occasions when a cartoon character is drawn in a "generalized" and nonrealistic manner with surroundings drawn more realistically. The reader identifies with the cartoon character in looking at a more realistic outside world.

Is there a similar dynamic at work when we look at these two engineers? We pour ourselves into Dilbert and look with him from the inside out at the crazy place he works. But when we turn to Norton we are looking for an outside software engineer. We do not want to be inside Norton trying to fix our computer; we turn to "him" to do it for us.

Would Dilbert draw so many laughs if he were drawn realistically? Would a cartoon engineer inspire as much confidence in Norton software?